Dispatcher details moments she found out Jayme Closs had escaped her abductor

Douglas County (WQOW) – It was a call that put into motion the safe return of Jayme Closs, the girl who had been kidnapped nearly three months ago.

Douglas County 911 dispatcher Amy Pullen has taken thousands of emergency calls in her 10-year career, but she said the 911 call she took just after 4 p.m. Thursday caused her entire body to shake.

Pullen said she knew right away who the caller was talking about and her focus immediately turned to getting deputies to Gordon.

She said the calm in her voice belied her sense of urgency as she tried to get information about Jayme’s alleged captor Jake Patterson and the description of his car.

“I knew that something was different about this and I actually remember looking at my partner that I was working with that day and she looked at me and she said ‘is this legitimate’ and I said I think it is,” Pullen said. “You just, you have that gut feeling you can hear it in the voice and I just kind of knew.”

Given everything Jayme had been through, Pullen said she was also focused on making sure the 13-year-old was safe and reassuring the people on the other end of the line that help was on the way.

“Being an adult female I can’t even imagine,” Pullen said. “Being put in that situation and how I would react, but for her to be 13 and everything that she had been through, you know in regards to her parents. You know, a stranger taking her in the way that he did. There are no words to describe how strong that girl is.”

By the time deputies arrived, Pullen said she knew Patterson was in custody.

Pullen said when she finally hung up the phone she simply put her head on her desk and breathed a huge sigh of relief.